ooh bloody hell

[brysie]

cheers dave.

just out of interest, can you recommend a lager kit?

[Benson_JV]

cheers dave.

just out of interest, can you recommend a lager kit?

Have you tried a wheat beer? Similar-ish to lager, but i find much more refreshing & tasty
Brewferm Wheat Beer naturally.

[randomdave]

Im still in the experimenting stage so havent settled on my particular lagar yet. I started with a coopers, which i thought was a bit more like cider in flavour altho it didnt really last long enough to mature
Ive done a muntons 2can kit an was a little disapointed at the % a little under 4%. Similar situation with the john bull one i did altho that tasted great too and lasted a bit longer cos i thought it was worth resisting to let it mature an see how it tasted.
I think however im gunna stick with coopers aussie lager but im gunna try it with DME rather than the maize sugar i used before. If that works out right then chances are ill just use coopers in future.

[brysie]

i must admit that im not normally too keen on wheat beers usually, maybe hb is different.

and dave i agree with the coopers tasting a bit cidery. in fact it was reminiscent of something swmbo got me for xmas one time called kasteel cru.
that was , if memory serves, fermented with or bottle conditioned with champagne yeast or something and was lovely if drunk very cold.
[the beer] i dont mean after a rinse down in the garden with the hose,
ive always thought that the colder the drink, the less you could taste though.
which sugar did you use for the coopers lager? because im wondering if its the yeast rather than the sugar altering the taste.

[randomdave]

It was 99p maize sugar from the HB shop. At the end of this month im gunna go for another coopers aussie an give it a whirl with some spraymalt see how that alters the taste. The jon bull tasted ok, i was just a little dissapointed with the 4%. Im tempted to try it again but use less water to up the abv.
I only started in september so it still all trial an error, fortunatly its all trial and error with some good stuff to drink at the end

[Big Al]

Thought I would post my 2 pennies worth.
I started brewing in September and am still finding my feet.

I first did a batch of Coopers Lager with just brewing sugar and thought it tasted mighty fine after leaving it for 6 weeks
The Home Brewing Shop recommended trying Spray Malt with it so I have done that to my latest batch
which I shall be trying in the next week or two. Will let you know how it comes out.

[brysie]

that big al might be where i went wrong.

i couldnt wait six weeks. wish i did now because it would probably have tastedvery different.

[Big Al]

that big al might be where i went wrong.

i couldnt wait six weeks. wish i did now because it would probably have tastedvery different.

Coopers on the tin does say its best after 3 months but I couldn't wait that long!!!!
Trying to brew plenty in advance so I can try leave it for as long as possible, but 6 weeks is the longest I manage

I am keeping some of the brews aside so I can come back in a few months and compare it to a fresher brew for comparrison.

[brysie]

thats a damn fine idea.

id love to know how the coopers lager that youve got conditioning with brewers malt turns out.

[Big Al]

I'd love to know too had to stick it out the way as I keep thinking hmm, maybe try some but its not been long enough yet really.
I bottle it on the 29/12/08 so its almost 3 weeks mature. Trying to hold out to 4 on this one.

I personally keep 4 pints from every different batch I do. Just need somewhere to store it as its turning into quite some stock pile.
Another plus side is, I am planning on having a mini beer fest with some mates, we can go through the stash and see who prefers what

[brysie]

now that sounds like a plan.

now if you wouldnt mind telling me your exact location and whereabouts you keep the good stuff,
ill be round later with the van.

[Big Al]

its all under lock and key in a secure bunker

[brysie]

haha

[brysie]

ok i tasted one tonight [couldnt wait to see if id ruined it} and it wasnt explodingly fizzy and tasted quite sweet, a bit special brewy, however from my calculations its only about 4%.

what does this suggest?

[randomdave]

It suggests someone is too eager to try the beer after 6 days
I cant really knock you for it tho, i bottled up my latest batch last week thu/fri an ive been itching to crack one open an taste it.

If i remember rightly my first coopers was really sweet a week after bottling, but that sweetness subsided after a couple of weeks. Chances are it will get a bit fizzier too.